Sun glasses are beneficial for reducing the often times blinding effect of the sun, particularly in a marine environment wherein the surface of a body of water can cause a significant glare. In such an environment, however, persons who are involved in physical activities, such as boating, fishing, water-skiing, etc. often risk having their sunglasses fly off their faces only to disappear into the water. In addition, such persons may also be subject to receiving blows on the face by bumping into things, as for example a boater who is prone to losing his balance under turbulent water conditions. In non-marine environments, flying objects may be hurled at the wearer's face, such as pebbles dislodged by moving objects, e.g. bicycles. Such blows are not only painful, but can quite readily shatter the wearer's sunglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,708, issued Sep. 11, 1990 to Kahaney, discloses sunglasses having a single transparent pane or lens with temple arm mounts being directly attached to said pane. A brow bar featuring a thin cushion strip secured to the inner wall surface thereof is detachably clipped to the top edge of the pane. The brow bar is meant to cushion impacts from flying particles and the like. However, these sunglasses do not float. In addition, as the pane directly supports the temple arms, the pane bears a significant load bearing stress which tends to make the eyeglasses weak with respect to absorbing the impact of hurled objects. Furthermore, the thin cushion strip is prone to being dislodged due to the repetitive motion of wearing and removing the glasses, which motion generally stresses the adhesive employed to secure the strip. This stress is particularly acute on hot summer days when the typical adhesive tends to lose its efficacy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,807, issued Jun. 19, 1990 to Bolle' et. al., discloses sunglasses having a removable and replaceable transparent convex lens or pane curved both horizontally and vertically. The sunglasses include a moisture absorbing means comprising a foam absorber strip which is removably attached to the frame via female recesses formed within the frame which accept male pins depending from the strip. Due to the nature of their attachment, the foam absorber strips in these eyeglasses are not designed to withstand any significant impact shock, nor do these glasses float.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,124, issued Jun. 19, 1973 to Goodman and Leblanc, discloses a floatable pair of spectacles having a specific gravity of less than 1 by virtue of compartments contained within the frame which constitute a volume of not less than about 25% of the over-all volume of the frame. These glasses, while floatable, are not designed to withstand any typical shock due to their fragile construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,451, issued Oct. 30, 1990 to Corral and Lopez, discloses a temple mounted floatation device for eyeglasses which is removably attached for use during water related activities. Such a device, however, yields an unsightly appendage projecting from the eyeglasses.
There is a need in the art for protective eyewear which can absorb the impact from small particles hurled at the wearer's face and can also float in a manner so as to be easily found in a large area of water. Such glasses must necessarily be attractively designed, without any non-fashionable appendages providing buoyancy.